


quiero ser tu almohada al dormir

by willowhispery



Category: A3! (Video Game)
Genre: Gen, Implied Sexual Content, M/M, spoilers for Chikage's entire existence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-17
Updated: 2020-01-07
Packaged: 2021-02-25 21:21:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,174
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21822100
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/willowhispery/pseuds/willowhispery
Summary: a collection of drabbles.1: chikaita: pillow talk.2: chikaita: heading home together.
Relationships: Chigasaki Itaru/Utsuki Chikage
Comments: 12
Kudos: 94





	1. pink-dyed shrimp

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yeah, sex is great and all, but have you ever ranked in top tier with minimal dia usage?
> 
> if you're just getting started with a3 via the english server, this work will definitely contain spoilers about the rookies, part 2 in general, and most of the event plays. 
> 
> but heya, i'm will, i'm way new to a3, and especially new to writing it, but i hope you enjoy these mostly plotless drabbles! i'll update the tags and summary as needed.

Chigasaki doesn’t look any closer to waking than he was 5 minutes ago, but his left arm sticks out as he pats sightlessly up and down the bed.

Chikage raises an eyebrow, though Chigasaki can’t see it. “Is something the matter?”

There’s a mumble from his chest that sounds vaguely like the word “senpai,” and Chigasaki shifts up to press his nose into Chikage’s collarbone. “Mm,” he says sleepily. “Needa check...”

He trails off, and Chikage would wonder if Chigasaki could actually fall asleep mid-sentence if it weren’t for his hand searching up the bed still. 

“There we go...” And then Chigasaki is holding himself up with a bony elbow pressed straight into Chikage’s sternum, the sudden glow from his phone illuminating his sex-tussled hair. 

Chikage wonders idly if he could take orgasms back, somehow.

“Is that what you were looking for at — ” The angle is weird, but he can just barely tilt his head enough to make out pixelated numbers glowing painfully bright on Chigasaki’s phone screen. “ — two in the morning, just after sex, when we both have work in the morning.”

It seems even the blue light from his phone isn’t enough to wake Chigasaki up. His eyes are half-lidded as he clicks around on this and that app. “Gotta use up my LP,” he says simply. “Otherwise it’ll fill up overnight.”

What an uncute junior. Chikage reaches up to pinch Chigasaki’s cheek forcefully, and he startles and drops his phone on the bed. Chikage snatches it up before Chigasaki can even think to grab it, covering the screen with the palm of his hand. “Go to sleep. Gamers need rest too, don’t they.”

With the phone’s light obscured, it’s hard to tell Chigasaki’s expression in the near-dark of the room, but Chikage can hear his huff. “Guess I don’t have a choice. I can grind back into tier during lunch break.” 

He lifts a hand to push against Chikage’s wrist and Chikage relents, though not without giving Chigasaki’s cheek another painful tweak. He may not be able to make out his expression, but he can see Chigasaki lifting his hand up to massage his cheek. “Senpai’s brutal as always.”

“Part of my charm, I’m sure,” Chikage deadpans. 

Chigasaki grumbles something else, but he finally shifts his arm back down, flopping back onto Chikage’s chest unceremoniously. “Well,” he says, “I guess the senpai type of character isn’t unpopular.”

“Of course.” Chikage lifts his hand up to muss up Chigasaki’s hair. “Go to _sleep_ , Chigasaki.”

Chigasaki says something unintelligible into Chikage’s neck, but he presses in closer, wrapping his arms around Chikage. “Night.”

It’s no surprise when Chigasaki’s breathing evens out, his grip on Chikage loosening as his body goes limp. Like this, more than anything else, he looks terribly vulnerable in a way Chikage still isn’t used to. He lets his hand trail through Chigasaki’s hair, gently massaging his scalp; Chigasaki presses closer to his touch even in his sleep, mumbling. Chikage wonders when his life got to be like this.

And if, in the cover of the night, he lets himself move closer, press against Chigasaki, well, he can just tell Chigasaki that he moves too much in his sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the sleeping shrimp gets washed away by the current, dayo~ i think it says a lot about me as a person that this idea would not leave my head while i was taking a final exam...
> 
> completely unbeta'd unless you count me yelling incoherently in [archie's](https://archiveofourown.org/users/assortedwords/pseuds/assortedwords) discord messages. also, shoutout to [captain](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ohvictor/pseuds/ohvictor) for that whole "gamers need rest" idea, i don't know if i woulda figured out how to end this drabble otherwise.
> 
> catch me at my [twitter](https://twitter.com/KUROKEITOS)!


	2. party member itaru has been debuffed!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if i were an event rank, i simply would not lower. rip to my rank but im different.
> 
> anyway, every time i have a Gamer Mishap i have the sudden and intense urge to make itaru also suffer with me, so that's where this chapter came from.

“There’s such a thing as fingerless gloves, you know,” Chikage says.

Chigasaki looks close to freezing in the chill of the late fall afternoon, even with his trademark blue jacket and three layers. Despite that, his hands are bare as he taps away at his phone, his expression schooled into a calculated indifference. If Chikage didn’t know any better, Chigasaki could almost blend in with any of the other commuters.

Standing this close to him, Chikage can make out the details of some generic rhythm game beatmap flashing across Chigasaki’s screen. _Of course._

Chikage has seen enough of Chigasaki’s gameplay videos to know that his current reaction time is slow for the famous _taruchi,_ the nip of the cold air making his normally focused movements stiff and awkward. 

It hasn’t seemed to stop Chigasaki from trying, though, his words deliberate as his fingers swipe across the screen. “What sort of salaryman wears fingerless gloves?” Chigasaki’s combo breaks again, and he huffs something under his breath. “I’d look like Flash — ah, shit.” 

The stamina refill prompt appears, and Chigasaki declines it. “This Freeze status condition is way too OP,” he grumbles, more to himself than to Chikage. “My fingers are too numb to play EX, so I wasted SP for no reason.”

“I wonder why that is,” Chikage deadpans.

Chigasaki ignores him, gaze still fixed downwards. “The printer jammed when I was trying to print out some papers for my latest report,” he says. Chikage watches as the beatmap reappears, Chigasaki’s brows knitting in concentration. “So I couldn’t use up my SP during lunch and fell out of tier. Banri’s kicking my ass in the rankings right now.” 

“Unfortunate.”

He’s spared momentarily from the sight of Chigasaki’s attempts by the chime of his own phone from the inside of his jacket pocket. Since joining Mankai, there’s been a stark increase in the number of LIME messages he receives every day; his lock screen is a wall of texts today as usual. 

He unlocks his phone to scroll through the latest ones, skimming over their contents. There’s a few from the director talking about a new restaurant that opened downtown (he makes a mental note to look up reviews later); a reminder from Sakuya about practice tonight; one from Banri about an escape room…

He’s in the middle of drafting out a reply to Banri when he hears a quiet swear to his right. Chikage chuckles under his breath. “Otsu.”

“Asshole,” Chigasaki says, with feeling. 

From the corner of his eye, Chikage can see Chigasaki shift his phone to shove a hand in his pocket. He watches as some of the tension seeps out of Chigasaki’s shoulders bit by bit. He must have put a heat pack in his pocket — he’d certainly grabbed enough of them for a small army when they’d left for work this morning. 

Chikage pockets his phone with a sigh, lips pursed as he takes in Chigasaki’s general condition. “You do know you don’t have to do that right this second?”

“I won’t be able to get back into tier if I don’t make up for the SP I couldn’t use during lunch soon,” Chigasaki replies absentmindedly. He clicks through his app with his free hand, pulling up a screen displaying what appears to be the event rankings. “Everyone’s getting out of school and work now, so ranking up will only be more difficult later.” 

He frowns at his phone for a moment and glances upwards. Chikage follows his gaze to the flickering electronic display overhead. Chigasaki considers the list of train arrival times for a few moments.

“Well, I guess I can grind the rest when we get home,” he decides at last. “If I buy some gems and stay up tonight, I should be able to get back in tier no problem. But...”

He shakes his hand out, the corner of his mouth dipping down into a slight scowl. “I should have at least enough health for one more retry.” 

Chikage lifts an eyebrow, cocking his head as he watches Chigasaki click through the app again. At the least, the heat pack seems to have done him some good, his hands steadier as he clicks through to the song list for the umpteenth time this afternoon. “We don’t have much time before our train,” he reminds him.

“It’s enough.” Chigasaki turns his phone sideways, positioning his hands. “If I can clear a song on 3x boost before we have to get on the train, I can at least secure my place in this tier in the meantime.”

“You aren’t going to get anywhere by freezing your hands off,” Chikage points out drily. 

“I can activate my leader skill in a pinch,” Chigasaki mumbles, gaze focused as he clicks to start the next song. “Con~tinue.”

With some of the warmth back in his hands, Chigasaki’s reaction times are at least better than before, even if his current gameplay is still lackluster. Chikage watches him slide, flick, and, tap, building up a substantial combo despite the stiffness no doubt still in his hands.

But it's still obvious he's out of sorts, his cheeks still flushed from the cold and a tremor running under his skin. At this rate, Chigasaki’s just going to wind up making himself sick for the sake of some game.

Chikage inhales a breath of cold air and allows himself a brief, private moment to feel something resembling _concern._ Chigasaki may not care about his own health when it comes to games, but it’ll be a pain for the troupe if he manages to get himself sick. 

He heaves another sigh. What an exhausting bunch it is that he’s gotten himself involved with. Well, it’s not as though he’s any better. 

“You look worse than if you’d been thrown between a firing squad,” he tells Chigasaki bluntly. 

Chigasaki jolts a bit and looks up at him, breaking his combo. He shrugs and lets his stamina bar run out as he lowers his phone to look at Chikage properly, gaze inquisitive. Chikage shifts his briefcase to the hand farther from Chigasaki. “Give that here.”

There’s a noise of protest as he plucks the phone from between Chigasaki’s stiff fingers. Chigasaki gives him a dirty look, nose crinkling. But he seems to quickly resign himself to the futility of trying to get his phone back, sighing and leaning back to stare at Chikage intently. “Is this another senpai cheat code moment?” 

“No.” Chikage tucks Chigasaki’s phone away in his inner jacket pocket, and takes Chigasaki’s hands in his. Just as he’d expected, they’re cold to the touch. “What a troublesome kouhai you are,” he sighs. “You’re sensitive to the cold as is, but at this rate you’re going to give yourself frostbite one of these days trying to play some mobile game out in the cold.”

Chigasaki is quiet for a moment, turning his head towards the train tracks, and then he says slowly, “Did I trigger a flag? Unlock a secret route?”

“As if. You looked pitiful, shivering like that.” Chikage drops Chigasaki’s hands unceremoniously and opens his bag. His own gloves are still tucked away with his work things. He pulls them out, tossing them at Chigasaki. He catches them without breaking a sweat, eyebrow raised in a silent question. “Use them,” Chikage orders.

“How unromantic,” Chigasaki mutters, but he pulls the gloves on without complaints. He stretches his hands out, fingers spread, and balls them into fists a couple of times. Despite his persistence, there’s a sigh of relief as he massages life back into his hands. “Ah, warm~”

“Hm? Whose fault was it that you were so cold in the first place, though?” Chikage reminds him. 

The screeching noise of the train pulling into the station drowns him out, loud and insistent as it comes to a full stop.

Chigasaki seems to have heard him anyhow, given the scowl he gets in response, but Chikage elects to ignore it in favor of turning towards the doors of the train car

“Come on, then,” he says, nudging Chigasaki ahead of him. “Ah, by the way, you’ll get your phone when we’ve made it back to the dorms.”

“Seriously?” Chigasaki ducks his head as he enters the train, but he’s not quick enough to hide the twitch of the corners of his mouth. A troublesome junior, indeed. “Senpai, you’re as merciless as always.”

“Is that so? You know, I could still shut off the dorm’s power supply after a certain hour — ”

Chigasaki’s response is an instantaneous monotone, “Don’t.”

They lapse into silence as the train begins to move and the other passengers press up against them. Chikage watches the light of the setting sun flicker through the windows, the way Chigasaki’s hair catches blindingly in its glow. 

It’s not as though working OT is uncommon for them, but they’d gotten out even later than usual today. It’s just their luck that it would happen to coincide with one of the rare days they’d taken public transport to work. They’ll be late for dinner tonight, if they don’t wind up missing it entirely. 

Chikage fishes his phone back out of his pocket, clicking to his LIME messages. He ought to send a text to the director or Omi, to let them know ahead of time not to wait up for them —

He pauses his train of thought, considering. Despite how long he’s been at Mankai now, it still feels bizarre to catch himself thinking something so _mundane._ This sort of carefree, day-to-day lifestyle has never suited someone like him, after all. He doubts that it ever will.

But these days he’s living now — simple, ordinary days where he can take the train to a place he calls “home,” with someone who’s a part of this “family” of his... 

Well, they’re not so bad in the end.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the latest taruchi restrictions mode: playing rhythm games with your fingers too stiff from the cold! too bad itaru can't just damage boost or something. also, i'm sure they probably drive to work, but i had such a specific image for this drabble because i definitely do this while waiting for this bus lol.
> 
> as always, find me on twitter [@kurokeitos](https://twitter.com/KUROKEITOS)!


End file.
